Feminist News

The Nigerian Demographic Health Survey of 2013 (NDHS) revealed persistently high child marriage rates and a need for increased family planning resources in Nigeria.

Nigeria accounts for 13 percent of global maternal death rates, with 36,000 women dying in pregnancy or child birth each year. An estimated 222 million women around the world wish to either delay or prevent pregnancy, but lack access to contraceptives - and Nigeria is no exception. The NDHS revealed that only 9.8 percent of Nigerian women use family planning, while 16.1 percent have an unmet need for family planning services. Although Nigeria has made significant progress in decreasing maternal deaths across the nation, the study also showed that only half of Nigerian women had four antenatal care visits and only 38 percent of births were assisted by an attendant. 70 percent of Nigeria's deaths are caused by abortion complications, hemorrage, eclampsia, or sepsis.

Additionally, as many as 17 million girls across Africa, or 1 in 3, are married before age 18, often against their will. According to the NDHS, 78 percent of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are married in Nigeria's Jigawa state, making it the state with the most early marriages, but child marriage rates across Nigeria often outpace those in other nations around the world. Girls who are married as children face sexual violence and abuse, are more likely to suffer from maternal death and injury due to early pregnancies or other complications and less likely to get an education.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) called on Pope Francis yesterday to take "tangible steps" to prevent widespread sexual abuse by clergy members instead of asking for forgiveness from victims.

Yesterday Pope Francis met with six people who were sexually abused by clergy members as children to ask for their forgiveness. He led them in a private mass and met individually with the survivors, one man and one woman each from Ireland, Britain, and Germany. In his homily yesterday, he also pledged to crack down on child sexual abusers in the clergy.

Although advocates for survivors were glad to see the Pope call for more accountability, advocates feared that the meeting was simply a public relations stunt, allowing Catholic church leaders to sidestep dealing with the issue head-on. "These meetings are public relations coups for the Vatican and distracting placebos for others. They provide temporary but false hope," said Mary Caplan, a member of SNAP. "In meetings, people can share knowledge. But Catholic officials don't lack knowledge. They lack courage - the courage to be honest, to "out" and oust their criminal colleagues, both those who commit and conceal sexual violence against children. And they lack the incentive to act responsibly because those who act irresponsibly are virtually never defrocked, demoted, disciplined or even defrocked. No meeting with victims - however many or compelling or articulate they may be - changes this fundamental, distressing and unhealthy reality."

Barbara Blaine, Founder and President of SNAP, who was herself raped by a parish priest as a teenager, commented that sexual abuse by church clergy and its cover up is still ongoing. "Stop talking about the crisis as though it's past tense, and stop delaying while your abuse panel discusses details," Blaine said. "You know the right thing to do."

In the US alone, between 1950 and 2010, 6,100 priests were accused of abuse, leading to an estimated 100,000 victims. Globally, thousands more have been accused, and they have been frequently protected from punishment by being transferred to a different parish where they could start abusing others, as shown in recently released documents of the Chicago archdiocese.

The House Appropriations Committee passed the fiscal year 2015 State Department and Foreign Operations appropriations bill yesterday with an amendment to remove a provision banning the Peace Corps from funding abortions for its volunteers, even in cases of rape or incest.

Although the Peace Corps amendment was a victory for reproductive health and rights, the House Appropriations Committee failed to pass three other amendments that would have improved US funding for reproductive health programs. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced an amendment to strike the Global Gag Rule from the appropriations bill. The Global Gag Rule prohibits foreign organizations who received US funds from counseling, advocating, or making referrals on abortion. That amendment failed by 19-25 vote.

"Year after year, Republicans attempt to reinstate the Global Gag Rule. This policy endangers the lives of low-income women around the world by denying funds for critical health services," said Lee in a statement. "I remain committed to the fight to prevent this dangerous policy from being reinstated."

Amendments offered by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) to remove restrictions on US funding for UNFPA, and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) to strike language that caps overall funding for international family planning and reproductive health at no more than $461 million - a 25 percent cut from the 2014 level of $610 million - were also defeated.

If passed, these amendments to the appropriations bill would have improved, or even saved, the lives of thousands of women and girls around the world. Approximately 99 percent of pregnancy related deaths occur in the developing world. Each year, 529,000 women and girls die worldwide due to complications related to pregnancy, and millions more are left maimed or injured. In addition, some 70,000 women and girls die annually from unsafe, often illegal abortions.

Engaging the US in the global fight to end gender-based violence will take center stage tomorrow as part of a Senate subcommittee hearing aimed at fully combating violence and discrimination against women worldwide.

The Senate Subcommittee hearing will focus on how the US and the international community can work to prevent violence against women, promote women's rights, and empower women and girls globally. Senator Boxer introduced the bipartisan International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) in May as a step toward reducing violence against women worldwide. The international community has also used the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), also known as the Women's Treaty, as a tool to fight violence against women globally. Although 187 countries have ratified the treaty, the US has not, joining Iran, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Tonga, and Palau in its failure to ratify CEDAW.

Gender-based violence is the most widespread human rights violation around the world. According to the World Health Organization at least 35% of women worldwide have experienced either intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime, although some national studies show prevalence rates as high as 70%. In conflict zones, women are more susceptible to rape, which has been systematically used as a weapon of war. Child marriage also continues to be a scourge. More than 64 million girls worldwide are child brides who suffer from sexual assault and life-threatening early pregnancy. One in nine girls in the developing world are married before age 15, and 90% of pregnancies to girls under age 18 occur within child marriage according to a recent UNFPA report.

Sometimes referred to as female genital cutting or female circumcision, FGM is the removal or cutting of part or all of a woman or girl's genitals. The practice, which is medically unnecessary, can lead to serious health issues such as infection, illness and death. FGM still affects up to 140 million women and girls worldwide, with an estimated 20,000 girls at risk in the UK.

The practice of FGM on girls under 18 was made a crime in the United States in 1996. The law was strengthened by President Obama in 2013 to make it a crime to transport a girl outside of the US for the purpose of subjecting her to FGM.

Immigration activist groups have filed a complaint against the US Customs and Border Protection agents, citing 116 allegations of child abuse at the US-Mexico border in Texas and Arizona.

The complaint includes the allegation that more than 80 percent of those child immigrants did not receive enough food and water, around half were not given medical care, and nearly one in four minors were abused physically. Unfortunately, the allegations don't end there. The activist groups, which include the National Immigrant Justice Center and the American Civil Liberties Union, are also alleging unsanitary conditions and the sexual abuse of children and the complaints say all of this has been going on for years.

"After completing a perilous journey into the United States, many are subjected to various forms of abuse, harassment and other harms at the hands of the Border Patrol," part of the complaint reads. "Children consistently reported being held in unsanitary, overcrowded and freezing-cold cells."

"Given these longstanding problems, and in light of the rising number of unaccompanied children seeking relief from dangerous conditions in their home countries," the complaint reads, "the need for broad and lasting agency reforms is clear."

Syeda Ghazala made history this week as the first woman to become chief of police in Pakistan's largest city.

In 2011, Pakistan was rated theÂ third-most dangerous country for women. Karachi still ranks as one of the top 10 most violent cities in the world. Now, Ghazala manages a 100-unit police force, made up of only men, in Clifton, a Karachi suburb with a population of more than 18 million people.

"My husband opposed my decision to join the police force 20 years ago," Ghazala told the Associated Press. The 44-year-old mother earned the highest score during the training promotion, besting her male colleagues. She says of the new job, "It was a big challenge. I was a little bit hesitant to accept it."

The promotion is evidence of a larger shift in thinking about women in leadership across Pakistan. Senior leadership in Ghazala's unit want to see more women joining the force in non-traditional roles. "Our society accepts only stereotype roles for women," senior police officer Abdul Khaliq Sheik said. "There is a perception that women are suitable only for particular professions like teaching."

According to the Associated Press, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, women do run police forces, but only in stations specifically designed to help female victims.

Because none of the presidential candidates won at least 50 percent of the vote in the April election, a runoff was held between the top two contenders - Abdullah Abdullah, who won 44.9 percent of the vote in the first election, and Ashraf Ghani Amadzai, who came in second with 31.5 percent.

The Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) will announce preliminary results for the runoff election on July 2 and expect the final results to be announced on July 22. Whoever wins the majority of the vote will replace current president Hamid Karzai, marking the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan's history.

Both Abdullah and Amadzai have indicated that they will sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the United States, which provides that the U.S. will continue to provide assistance to strengthen the security and stability of Afghanistan and will work with Afghanistan to continue coordinating counter-terrorism efforts. The candidates also signed a petition for women's rights, announced in a press conference held Thursday. Initiated by 117 women-led organizations, the petition calls for women's empowerment with the goals of equality in education and leadership and an end to violence against women.

Afghan women's groups Thursday held a press conference announcing that both of the presidential front-runners had signed a six-point petition for women's rights. The news comes on the eve of the nation's runoff elections for the presidency, which are being held tomorrow. Initiated by 117 women-led organizations, the petition calls for women's empowerment with the goals of equality in education and leadership and an end to violence against women.

A runoff election for the presidency will take place tomorrow in Afghanistan after the first election on April 5 failed to earn any candidate running over 50% of the vote. Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan's former Foreign Minister, and Ashraf Ghani, former Finance Minister and World Bank economist, will compete.

The summit aims to "shatter the culture of impunity" for perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict, take practical steps to reduce the dangers women face during conflicts, increase support for survivors, and debunk the myth that rape in war is inevitable.

"It is a myth that rape is an inevitable part of conflict. It is a weapon of war aimed at civilians . . . done to torture and humiliate people and often to very young children," Jolie said. "We need to see real commitment and go after the worst perpetrators, to fund proper protection for vulnerable people, and to step in to help the worst-affected countries."

Rape is frequently used as a military tactic to "humiliate and demoralize individuals, to tear apart families, and to devastate a href="http://stoprapenow.org/uploads/aboutdownloads/1282162584.pdf">communities." Soldiers often see rape as a spoil of war, and the lawlessness of countries in conflict means perpetrators usually face no punishment, and survivors rarely receive justice or the medical or other recovery services they need. Past conflicts in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Bosnia and Herzegovina included the rape of thousands of women and girls. Currently, an average of 40 women are raped per day in the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

WASHINGTON - A coalition of women's rights groups have joined the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) in calling for the Obama Administration to initiate the process of removing Brunei from negotiations on a prospective Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement with the United States - or to suspend TPP talks - until Brunei revokes its new Taliban-like penal code.

"Women's rights and human rights cannot take a backseat to profit and trade," said FMF President Eleanor Smeal. "As a global leader, the United States should not negotiate a free trade agreement with a country that has enacted laws hostile to basic human rights and dignity."

Twelve women's rights organizations - including FMF, American Association of University Women, the Clearinghouse on Women's Issues, the Institute for Science and Human Values, Jewish Women International, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Council of Jewish Women, the National Organization for Women, the Women's Global Program of the Communications Consortium Media Center, Women's Online Media and Education Network, and the US National Committee for UN Women - delivered a letter to the White House expressing outrage over Brunei's new penal code and asking the Administration stop negotiating the TPP with Brunei.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a proposed regional free trade agreement being negotiated between the US and Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The TPP addresses a broad range of issues, including trade in goods and services; regulation of intellectual property and foreign investments; as well as labor and environmental rules, among other topics. TPP negotiations have been ongoing since 2010, with very little information about the negotiated documents released to Congress or to the public.

"The US must insist that Brunei address human rights concerns by revoking its penal code before the US continues negotiations with Brunei on the TPP," continued Smeal. "There is simply no place in a civilized society for kill-a-gay and flog-a-woman penal codes. Our foreign policy should make that clear, especially in the execution of our trade agreements."

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights has expressed deep concern about Brunei's new penal code and stated that its draconian punishments would violate international law. The new penal code, which went into effect on May 1, is set to be implemented in three phases. The first phase includes fines and prison sentences for such "crimes" as becoming pregnant outside of marriage. The second phase includes corporal punishment, such as amputations and flogging of women who have abortions. The third phase includes the stoning to death of gay men and lesbians and those convicted of adultery.

The remains of almost 800 children found in a mass grave in western Ireland have been determined to be from a home for unwed mothers that operated in Tuam, County Galway for 35 years between 1926 to 1961.

The deaths of the children likely occurred because of neglect, disease and malnutrition, which was rampant according to a 1944 government investigation of the home. Mothers who gave birth at the home told Catherine Corless, the researcher who discovered the origin of the bones, that they received extremely poor healthcare. They told her that they were only seen once by a doctor when they were admitted to the house, and long labors were often unattended.

The bone repository - found in a septic tank - was originally discovered in 1975, but it was assumed to contain the remains of victims of the mid-nineteenth century famine until Corless conducted her research.

The "mother-and-baby home" in Taum was one of many Catholic Church-run institutions across Ireland created to house unwed pregnant women, including rape victims, and hide the "stain" they would create on the morality of the country. The Church has been under fire, especially from the United Nations, for operating Magdalene Asylums, or Magdalene Laundries, for unwed women from the 18th to 20th centuries in Ireland and across Europe and North America, as well as for church leaders covering up child sexual abuse. Women in the laundries were forced to work in terrible conditions, and children were often sold without the mother's consent. Increasing awareness of the offenses committed by the Church has made it much harder for the Vatican and governments to ignore them.

"How can we show in Ireland that we have matured as a society if we cannot call out these horrific acts of the past for what they were? They were willful and deliberate neglect of children, who were the most vulnerable of all," junior minister for education, Ciaran Cannon, told Reuters. "They were deserving of love and nurturing, but they received the exact opposite. They were shunned by society at the time. The only way we can address that injustice is to tell their story, to determine the truth."

President Obama announced last week that 9,800 United States military troops will remain in Afghanistan through the end of 2015 to help train and advise Afghan security forces, as well as assist in counter-terrorism operations. The number of troops will then continue to be scaled back to a normal embassy presence with a security assistance component by 2016.

"Over the last several years, we've worked to transition security responsibilities to the Afghans," said Obama in his announcement of the plan. "One year ago, Afghan forces assumed the lead for combat operations. Since then, they've continued to grow in size and in strength, while making huge sacrifices for their country."

During his remarks, President Obama made clear that the drawdown of US troops would not impact the United States' commitment to Afghan re-development. "Now, even as our troops come home, the international community will continue to support Afghans as they build their country for years to come," said Obama. "But our relationship will not be defined by war, it will be shaped by our financial and development assistance as well as our diplomatic support."

Presidents Obama and Karzai signed a ten-year Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) in May 2012 which included "U.S. commitments to support Afghanistan's social and economic development, security, institutions, and regional cooperation." Afghanistan committed "to strengthen accountability, transparency, oversights, and to protect human rights of all Afghans - men and women." The SPA is still in effect.

The US has also made a substantial five-year commitment to Afghan women and girls through the USAID project Promote, the agency's largest gender program in the world. Geared toward women between the ages of 18 and 30 who have at least a secondary education, Promote is expected to increase women's economic, social, and political participation through education, job training, micro-finance and credit for female entrepreneurs, training for policy-making, and strengthening of women's rights groups and coalitions. USAID will contribute up to $216 million to the project; other donors can contribute up to $200 million in additional funding, for a total of $416 million over the five-year period. The recently announced troop drawdown does not change these commitments.

The President, however, did state that the decision to maintain troops in Afghanistan is contingent upon the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA). Current President Hamid Karzai will not sign the BSA, but the front-runners to be the next president have both said they will. Former Finance Minister and World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah are the two top presidential candidates. Because neither candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote in the April 2014 election, a runoff will be held June 14 to determine the next president.

At a three-day international maternal health summit in Toronto last week, the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, announced that Canada has pledged $3.5 billion for programs aimed at improving maternal and newborn health in developing countries.

The funds will add on to previously committed funds for the Millenium Development Goals - goals and strategies agreed to by all the world's countries and leading development institutions to eradicate poverty and hunger, improve maternal health, and reduce child mortality, among other issues, by a target date of 2015. Canada's funds will be allocated for between 2015 and 2020.

99 percent of pregnancy related deaths occur in the developing world. Each year, 529,000 women and girls die worldwide due to complications related to pregnancy. Millions more are left maimed or injured. In addition, some 70,000 women and girls die annually from unsafe, often illegal abortions. Unfortunately, Canada's pledge excludes abortion and birth control from its funding.

"Women have to have better control of their reproductive rights; we know that when women are healthy and educated, they contribute more to society," said NDP MP Helene Laverdiere in protest of the exclusion.

The African Union launched its first campaign to curb child marriage in Africa last week, in cooperation with African governments, UNICEF, the UK Department for International Development, and several civil society organizations.

"What we are seeing today is an Africa-wide movement of leaders and organizations collectively saying 'No to Child Marriage,'" said Martin Mogwanja, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. "This push led by Africans for Africans must not stop until every girl in every family and every community has the right to reach her 18th birthday before getting married."

The campaign will run for an initial two-year period, with national launches in anticipated in at least 10 countries. The campaign will focus on policy action, raising awareness, and implementing legal frameworks that protect children. Some countries already have additional strategies in mind. Zambia is involving traditional chiefs to change the cultural norms around child marriage.

As many as 17 million girls across the continent, or 1 in 3, are married before age 18, often against their will. Child marriage rates are the highest in Niger (75%) and Chad (68%). Girls who are married as children face sexual violence and abuse, are more likely to suffer from maternal death and injury due to early pregnancies or other complications, and are less likely to get an education.

A 25-year-old Pakistani woman was brutally and publicly murdered by her family this week for marrying the man she loved.

Farzana Parveen married a man several months ago following a years-long engagement. She was three months pregnant. Her family did not approve of the marriage because they did not arrange it, and the husband believes they were trying to get money from him. After the couple married, Parveen's family threatened them and filed an abduction case against the husband. On the couple's way to the courthouse Tuesday to contest the abduction claim, 20 of Parveen's extended family members waited outside for them and started beating them with batons and bricks from a nearby construction site until she died.

"I killed my daughter as she had insulted all of our family by marrying a man without our consent, and I have no regret over it," the father was quoted saying to a police investigator. He is currently under arrest and facing murder charges.

"HRCP is appalled by the manner of Farzana Parveen's death just a few yards from the Lahore High Court on Tuesday," said the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in a statement. "Her only crime was to marry of her own free will, a right that the law recognises for all adult citizens but one where the state has failed to prevent abuse and violence."

HRCP reports that almost 900 women were murdered in 2013 in so-called honor killings, and many perpetrators who commit violence against women are acquitted or given light sentences due to poor police work and prosecutions and the unwillingness of the state to confront the issue.

"The good news for the parents of the girls is that we know where they are, but we cannot tell you," said Chief of Defense Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh. "But where they are held, can we go there with force? We can't kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back."

After the government faced an outcry from Nigerians and people around the world for acting too slowly to find them, several international forces got involved. The US has provided air surveillance, and President Obama sent military personnel to Chad last week to help find the girls.

Since the kidnapping in April, Boko Haram has killed hundreds of civilians. The United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions against the group last week, adding Boko Haram to a list of organizations associated with al-Qaeda.

The White House announced this week that it has deployed 80 US military personnel to Chad to help find the over 200 Nigerian girls abducted in April by militant group Boko Haram.

"These personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area," he wrote in a letter to the House and Senate leaders. "The force will remain in Chad until its support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required."

It has been over a month since the girls were abducted, and the search for them has come up empty. Boko Haram released a video last week showing some of the girls praying and offering to exchange them for imprisoned members of the group, but there have not been many other leads. The group, which has a long history of terrorism in Nigeria, appears to be escalating its violent attacks. The United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions against the group this week, adding Boko Haram to a list of organizations associated with al-Qaeda.

Boko Haram, the terrorist group that kidnapped over 200 teenage girls from their school in Northeast Nigeria one month ago, released a video yesterday on YouTube offering to free the girls in return for the release of imprisoned group members.

Around 100 girls are shown in the video praying and wearing full grey veils. "We will not release them while you detain our brothers," Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau says. Nigeria has reportedly deployed two army divisions to find the girls. "The government of Nigeria is considering all options towards freeing the girls and reuniting them with their parents," said senior Ministry of Information official Mike Omeri.

Several countries have offered assistance to the Nigerian government, including the United States. An anonymous source told the New York Times that US surveillance aircraft have already joined the search for the girls and satellite images have been provided to the Nigerian government.

Two reports by United Nations agencies reveal that there has been significant progress in reducing maternal mortality worldwide over the last decade, but much more can be done to protect women's lives.

Maternal deaths have dropped 45 percent since 1990, according to the new UN data. In 2013, an estimated 289,000 women worldwide died due to pregnancy and childbirth complications - a sharp decrease from 523,000 in 1990. The current 2013 rate, however, still comes to about 800 women dying every day, one every two seconds. Only eleven countries have reached their Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of a 75 percent reduction in maternal mortality by 2015, and several countries - including the United States - actually saw their maternal mortality rates increase over the last decade.

Ninety-nine percent of all maternal death occurs in the developing world, with women in Sub-Saharan Africa facing the greatest risk of dying from complications in pregnancy and childbirth. Yet, most maternal death is preventable. A World Health Organization (WHO) study published this week points to the common causes of maternal death. Twenty-eight percent of maternal deaths are caused by pre-existing medical conditions that are exacerbated by pregnancy, such as diabetes, malaria, HIV, and obesity. Severe bleeding was the second most common cause. Pregnancy-induced high blood pressure, obstructed labor, unsafe abortion, infections, and blood clots are additional causes.

"Together, the two reports highlight the need to invest in proven solutions, such as quality care for all women during pregnancy and childbirth, and particular care for pregnant women with existing medical conditions," says Dr. Flavia Bustreo, the Assistant Director-General of Family, Women's, and Children's Health for WHO. The reports also demonstrate the need for more accurate data, strong health systems, progress in preventing adolescent pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, and comprehensive sexual health education.

To fully combat maternal mortality, however, the United States and the international community must also work to provide universal access to reproductive health care, including contraception, empower women and girls economically and socially, ensure access to basic education, end child marriage, confront sexual violence and conflict, and provide comprehensive health care, including access to safe abortion to women and girls who are victims of war rape.

"Now, therefore, be it resolved, with the concurrence of the Mayor, that by the adoption of this Resolution, the City of Los Angeles hereby includes in its 2013-2014 Federal Legislative Program support for legislation and/or administrative action which condemns the government of Brunei for adopting laws that impose extreme and inhumane penalties including execution by stoning, flogging and severing of limbs and urges the government of Brunei to divest itself of the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Bel Air Hotel," the resolution says [PDF].

The Brunei Investment Agency owns the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Bel-Air Hotel, and other Dorchester Collection Properties. The Agency is managed by the Brunei Ministry of Finance, which is controlled by Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei.

Brunei's new penal code is set to be implemented in three phases over three years. The first phase, which began on May 1, will include fines and prison sentences. The second phase includes corporal punishment such as amputations and flogging women who have abortions. The stoning to death of gay men and lesbians is slated for the third phase.

According to news reports, the US State Department indicated on Tuesday that the ambassador to Brunei had discussed concerns about the law with the Brunei government. The Feminist Majority Foundation is calling on the United Nations to condemn the government of Brunei and to explore additional options if the Sultan fails to rescind these inhumane laws.

In protest of the new laws, the Feminist Majority Foundation launched a massive petition drive and social media campaign, using the hashtag #StopTheSultan, calling on the government of Brunei to rescind the new code and asking the United Nations to take action if these laws go into effect as planned. FMF also pulled its annual Global Women's Rights Awards from the Beverly Hills Hotel and held a rally on Monday in the park across from the venue. Several celebrities, including actor and activist Frances Fisher and comedian Jay Leno, who co-chairs the Global Women's Rights Awards with Mavis Leno, joined a coalition of women's rights and LGBT groups at the rally, calling on the Sultan of Brunei to immediately rescind the penal code.

Fast food workers across the US have been striking and protesting for higher wages and more labor protections for over a year now - changes that would particularly help women and people of color. Seventy-three percent of all front-line fast food workers are women, and 43 percent are black or Latino. Fifty-two percent of fast food workers have to rely on public assistance because their wages are too low to survive on. "Meanwhile, the CEO of McDonald's raked in about $13.8 million in fiscal 2012, an estimated 737 times what the average fast-food worker earned," Michelle Chen reports in the Fall 2013 issue of Ms.

The Beverly Hills City Council voted unanimously yesterday to approve a resolution urging Brunei to divest its ownership of the Beverly Hills Hotel and condemning the Southeast Asian nation's brutal new "kill-a-gay" and "flog-a-woman" penal code.

"The City of Beverly Hills strongly condemns the government of Brunei as well as other governments which engage in similar policies for adopting laws that impose extreme and inhumane penalties including execution by stoning, flogging and severing of limbs," the resolution says. "The City of Beverly Hills urges the government of Brunei to divest itself of the Beverly Hills Hotel and any other properties it may own in Beverly Hills."

The Brunei Investment Agency owns the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Bel-Air Hotel, and other Dorchester Collection Properties. The Agency is managed by the Brunei Ministry of Finance, which is controlled by Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei.

"We are pleased that the Beverly Hills City Council is taking action," said Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal. "This new Taliban-like penal code is a clear violation of international law and the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights."

The new penal code is set to be implemented in three phases over three years. The first phase, which began on May 1, will include fines and prison sentences. The second phase includes corporal punishment such as amputations and flogging women who have abortions. The stoning to death of gay men and lesbians is slated for the third phase.

According to news reports, the U.S. State Department indicated on Tuesday that the ambassador to Brunei had discussed concerns about the law with the Brunei government. The Feminist Majority Foundation is calling on the United Nations to condemn the government of Brunei and to explore additional options if the Sultan fails to rescind these inhumane laws. "'Kill-a-gay' laws, or laws that allow the flogging of women for abortion, violate international law and have no place in civilized society," said Mavis Leno, Feminist Majority Foundation board member.

FMF has launched a massive petition drive and social media campaign, using the hashtag #StopTheSultan, calling on the government of Brunei to rescind the new code and asking the United Nations to take action if these laws go into effect as planned.

TAKE ACTION:Sign FMF's petition to stop the Brunei's new Taliban-like penal code and urge the United Nations to condemn the government of Brunei and explore all options, including sanctions, against Brunei if the government does not rescind these horrific laws.

President Barack Obama announced yesterday that the US will assist Nigeria in finding the over 200 teenage girls who were abducted by terrorist group Boko Haram three weeks ago.

"We've already sent in a team to Nigeria - they've accepted our help through a combination of military, law enforcement, and other agencies who are going in, trying to identify where in fact these girls might be and provide them help," Obama said Tuesday. The support will include technical assistance from US military and law enforcement officials skilled in intelligence, investigations, victim assistance, hostage negotiating, and other areas. Armed forces will not be involved.

"In the short term our goal is obviously to help the international community, and the Nigerian government, as a team to do everything we can to recover these young ladies," Obama told NBC. "But we're also going to have to deal with the broader problem of organizations like this that . . . can cause such havoc in people's day-to-day lives."

The kidnapped girls, 53 of whom have escaped, were at their school when Boko Haram abducted them. The group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, announced his intention to sell the girls "in the market" in a video. Many fear that some of the girls may have already been forced into sex slavery or trafficked across the border, and protests have grown around the world and on twitter where people have called on Nigeria to #BringBackOurGirls.

President Obama called the kidnapping "heartbreaking," and called on the international community to take action against Boko Haram. "You've got one of the worst regional or local terrorist organizations in Boko Haram in Nigeria, they've been killing people ruthlessly for many years now and we've already been seeking greater cooperation with the Nigerians - this may be the event that helps to mobilize the entire international community to finally do something against this horrendous organization that's perpetrated such a terrible crime."

Boko Haram kidnapped 8 more girls from Warabe on Sunday night, and killed as many as 300 people in an attack on Gamboru Ngala. Both towns are in the northeastern region of Nigeria, near the border with Cameroon, not far from Chibok were the schoolgirls were abducted. A government official told a local newspaper that the attack on Gamboru Ngala lasted about 12 hours. Members of Boko Haram were reported to have sprayed gunfire into crowds and set shops and resident homes on fire.

Commenting on the kidnapping, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the US "will do everything possible to support the Nigerian government to return these young women to their homes and hold the perpetrators to justice." Assistance could include help with security, communications and intelligence. The Nigerian government has indicated, according to the BBC, that it welcomes international assistance in order to find the girls.